Speaking of Science

The Puzzle of Precocious Puberty

The average age for the start of puberty has been dropping for decades. It's a global trend that could be signaling a public health threat to the physical and psychologic

Defying Dengue

This year has seen a record number of dengue cases all over the world. It might not be a fluke, as climate change expands the areas where the mosquito that transmits the

Devon Valera and Dr. Jacqueline Vo — Dismantling the Myth of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander Populations as a Monolith

Historical failings, like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that restricted immigration from China for 61 years, have cast a shadow of prejudice and discrimination over A

Dr. Michael Ombrello — The Rare Case of Beverly Gage

Beverly Gage came to the NIH with a condition that had never been observed before. A mysterious genetic mutation that caused her chronic joint pain and inflammation led h

Dr. Sadhana Jackson — Breaking Through the Blood-Brain Barrier

The blood-brain barrier keeps bad actors like toxins, viruses, and bacteria from entering the brain. But in the case of brain cancer when the danger is already inside, th

Dr. Meredith Shiels — Health in Numbers

Epidemiologists are the watchful guardians of public health. They collect and analyze data to track the status quo. When there are deviations, they crunch the numbers to

Dr. Veronica Alvarez and Dr. Bruno Averbeck — On the Pulse of Compulsive Behaviors

Despite negative consequences and the desire to stop, millions of people with compulsive behaviors can't break the self-destructive cycles that disrupt their daily lives.

Dr. John Hanover — The Bittersweet Study of Glycobiology

Sugars, also referred to as carbohydrates, aren't just substances we add to make coffee taste less bitter or food sweeter; they are an entire class of molecules necessary

Dr. Sharon Milgram — Making the Most of the Trainee Experience

None of the groundbreaking research taking place in the IRP would be possible with the hard work and dedication of trainees. While they work to support the NIH's mission

Dr. Steve Holland — Sussing Out Susceptibility to Sickness

For Dr. Steve Holland, the mystery of why some people are more prone to disease is as much a curiosity as it is a calling. Dr. Holland is the scientific director and chie

Dr. Hari Shroff — The Science and Play of Super Resolution Imaging

NASA recently unveiled the first images taken by the James Webb Telescope. But the distant cosmos aren't the only ones coming into focus. While astronomers point their in

Dr. Joyce Chung — Gathering Helping Hands to Grasp Mental Health

Finding treatments for mental health conditions doesn't just deal with people who live with them. Healthy volunteers play a critical part in the science of understanding

Dr. Lauren Porter — Molecular "Transformers:" Switching Form and Function

Science is receptive to new information that can refine the theories we use to make sense of the world. Such is the case with Dr. Lauren Porter, a Stadtman investigator a

Drs. Elaine Ostrander and Heidi Parker — Unleashing the Dog Genome

Centuries of selective breeding have given rise to a staggering variety of dog breeds, each with its own traits and behaviors. But shallow gene pools have also put some b

Dr. Matthew Memoli — A Better Shot Against the Flu

The annual flu vaccine is the best way to prevent yourself and others from getting sick. But sometimes the antigens the vaccine trains your body to fight are not similar

Dr. Bevil Conway — Coloring Inside the Minds

There is more to color than meets the eye. According to Dr. Bevil Conway, how we perceive color can inform how our brains receive, interpret, and generate knowledge about

Drs. Natasha Caplen and Richard Maraia — What's Next in the RNAge?

The success of mRNA vaccines against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, has brought RNA biology into the limelight. Now, with the world's attention, what's next for th

Dr. Anna Nápoles — A New Dawn for Minority Health

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, racial and ethnic minority groups were disproportionately hit. The health inequities pulled at the seams of a system that was already f

Dr. Diana Bianchi — Caring for Two: The Mom-Baby Unit

Pregnancy is by no means necessary for motherhood, but it is necessary for life. And it's no picnic. A pregnant person can experience complications like anemia, UTIs, hyp

Dr. Louis Staudt — The ABCs of B Cell Lymphomas

Small errors can quickly escalate to have large repercussions. When it comes to cancer, molecular changes to DNA can trigger chain reactions that cause cells to go awry a